The Baylor Lariat » Cross Country and Track & Fieldhttp://baylorlariat.com
We're there when you can't beThu, 30 Jul 2015 19:48:19 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3After an injury that almost ended his career, sophomore Trayvon Bromell fights backhttp://baylorlariat.com/2015/04/23/after-an-injury-that-almost-ended-his-career-sophomore-trayvon-bromell-fights-back/
http://baylorlariat.com/2015/04/23/after-an-injury-that-almost-ended-his-career-sophomore-trayvon-bromell-fights-back/#commentsFri, 24 Apr 2015 04:41:00 +0000http://baylorlariat.com/?p=59103After a hip and knee injury in 2009 and 2010, sophomore sprinter Trayvon Bromell was forced to push himself harder than ever before to get back on his feet. Now, a few years later, Bromell has gone on to win competitions such as 2014 NCAA and Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter dash. Skye Duncan | Photo Editor

By Jeffrey SwindollSports Writer

Sophomore sprinter Trayvon Bromell is on top of the collegiate track and field world. No one seems to be able to stop him.

An injury nearly brought him down, but he overcame it. He started his career at Baylor as well as anybody could have hoped, winning the national title, but he continues to grow, and a future as the face of U.S. track and field looms large.

Though his future is certainly bright, consistently winning his events and meet titles for Baylor and the Junior Olympic team, there was a time that it looked like his track career would be cut short. Injuries to both of his knees and hip in 2009 and 2010 pushed him to the brink.

“It was a process,” Bromell said. “It made me stronger as a person, spiritually and physically. I put my faith in God, knowing he would get me through it. Throughout the whole thing it was a struggle because, really, where I’m coming from, you don’t have a lot of resources.”

“I didn’t have the resources and my family didn’t either, but God got us through it and it all paid off.”

Bromell is quiet and sure of what he does. He spends no time praising himself, yet exudes confidence in his abilities when speaking of his career goals.

Coming out of high school, Bromell’s name already carried various state and national awards, foreshadowing of what was to come in his collegiate career.

Bromell, originally from St. Petersburg, Fla., recorded the fastest time ever run by a high school athlete in the 100-meter dash (9.99 seconds) in his victory at the the Great Southwest Classic Title.

He won the 100-meter event at the U.S. Junior Championships, claimed bronze in the 100 and gold in 4×100 relay with Team USA at the Pan American Junior Championships. Additionally, Bromell won various state titles in Florida for Gibbs High School. He was the first high-school junior to surpass the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter dash.

Clearly back to full strength and succeeding tremendously after the injury, Bromell was about to make his name bigger in his first two years as a collegiate sprinter. Bromell wasted no time in blowing up on the collegiate track & field scene.

2014 was Bromell’s year in the 100. He tied the world junior record (9.97 seconds) at the Texas Relays in Austin, claimed the US Junior Championship title and won the 2014 NCAA and Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter dash.

“I feel like it’s motivation,” Bromell said about posting record times at a young age. “There are not too many people that are able to run those times. Being able to go out, under 21 and run a 10.01, 10.02 consistently shows how strong I’m getting and the work ethic that we have here at Baylor.”

He achieved the sports highest titles at the collegiate and junior levels in the 100, but Bromell did not stop there. Still growing and challenging himself, Bromell opted to run the 200-meter race at the 2015 Indoor Big 12 Championships. Bromell did not seem to have the evident dominance he boasted in the 100, but defied the critics and won the 200-meter Big 12 title.

Sophomore track star Trayvon Bromell has been one of the most successful underclassmen in track history. The Florida native won the 100-meter national championship and run the first sub-10 second run in high school history. Skye Duncan | Lariat Photo Editor

“I knew I could run it, and I’m not going to say I doubted myself, but I just felt like my short sprints would be better than my 200,” Bromell said. “God showed me that I can’t just put one race bigger than the other. He gave me the talent to run fast in all races. I feel like now I’m good in both.”

Bromell refuses to coast through his collegiate career, expanding from the 100 to the 200. He has already touched on his plan to eventually compete in the 400-meter as well.

“I’ve never run the 400. That’s something we’re trying to build on. It’s a work in progress,” Bromell said. “I know if a lot of people say I can run a fast 200 then I can easily run the 400. I’m getting stronger in practice, in my races, so you’ll be able to see me run the 400 real soon.”

The Olympics seem to be Bromell’s eventual destination, but it is still a long ways away from where he is now.

After a phenomenal first two years in collegiate track, he made his presence on that radar even bigger than it already was.

“Trayvon is a super, super young man and just has the world in front of him right now,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “We’re just thankful that he’s a Baylor Bear, but he’s turning some heads right now, for sure.”

Bromell has stated numerous he is aware of his potential to ultimately reach the Olympics, but often goes on to say he tries to keep things in perspective.

“Yes, [going to the Olympics] is my goal, but you have to take it one step at a time,” Bromell said. “You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You never know what could happen any given day. The thing is moving forward on each individual day. That way, each step at a time, you know what you need to accomplish each day and execute in your race. The next day comes and that’s what happens.”

Harbour said he believes it. Bromell believes it himself. He has even gotten some looks from past olympic gold-medalists.

Former Baylor track star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson had some words to say about Bromell and his future as an Olympic competitor for the US after watching Bromell win the 100-meter event at the 2015 Michael Johnson Classic just one week ago.

“[Bromell has] done a fantastic job and it’s really, really exciting to see an athlete with the potential that he [has] to become a world-class 100-meter sprinter, and that is the marquee event in the sport,” Johnson said. “Based on what I’ve seen, there’s no reason to believe that he can’t be consistent and ultimately be one of those American athletes competing for the medals.”

Justin Gatlin, current US Olympian and the 2004 Summer Olympics gold-medalist in the 100-meter dash, also knows the rising star from Baylor.

“The sky’s the limit,” Gatlin said of Bromell. “Some people question his height and his size, but he’s able to use his body to his advantage.”

When asked about the support from former and current Olympians, Bromell said he was flattered, but continued to remind the media, as well as himself, he is not looking that far ahead just yet.

“It feels good to have that person on my back, to have someone looking over me that’s at that level already, just to make sure I go down the right path I need to go on,” Bromell said. “I’ve still got to work hard. I tell everyone the same thing. I go to school, come to practice, I go home and I repeat. I don’t take any days off. I just keep moving forward, stay strong. That’s how great athletes are born.”

The weather cut the party short, but Baylor track and field claimed nine titles at the 2015 Michael Johnson Classic on Saturday at Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium before officials canceled the end of the meet.

With 2,655 fans packing the stands at the first MJC hosted at Clyde Hart, it was an entertaining event before inclement weather ruined the fun. IDespite the weather issues, Michael Johnson was there.

“It’s always fun to come back,” the former Baylor sprinter and four-time Olympic gold medalist Johnson said. “Certainly, this year, it’s special with the new facility. The new stadium is just phenomenal. I keep pinching myself going, ‘Is this really a Baylor track?’”

Sophomore Brandon Moore and Junior Olicia Williams helped Baylor sweep the 800-meter event on the men and women’s side. Williams blew away Baylor’s eight-year school-record (Nicole Jones, 2:04.69, 2007) in the 800-meter with a time of 2:03.32, good enough for third best in the NCAA. Moore earned a personal best time of 1:48.53.

Baylor also swept the 110-meter hurdles on the men and women’s side after senior Tiffani McReynolds and junior Bryce Grace thrilled the home crowd with their performances. McReynolds beat her competition by .26 and finished with 12.93 seconds.

“I feel like I was able to push out of the blocks and go ahead and get a head start over hurdle number one,” McReynolds said. “From there I just carried and built my momentum.”

Junior Bryce Grace surpassed his personal record this season with a 13.70 time on Saturday, ranking him at seventh in the NCAA this year.

“I knew once I got out [at the beginning of the race], I looked into the crowd and everybody was just silent, and that’s when my heart started beating fast,” Grace said. “It shocked me because I don’t usually get out in front. I started picking up speed and I knew once I had a gap, all I had to do was stay clean.”

Sophomore Cion Hicks nearly claimed the shot-put and the discus titles on Saturday. Hicks threw a personal best 16.69-meter throw in the shot-put, winning the event.

Sophomore sprinter Trayvon Bromell continued his winning ways in the 100-meter race. Bromell ran a 10.02, tying the fourth-best time in school history.

“While I feel like I could’ve set it up at the start a little better, I was happy come out with a time and a win,” Bromell said.

Sophomore George Caddick claimed the 400-meter title with a personal best time of 46.10 seconds.

Junior Brianna Richardson had already claimed her title in the women’s triple-jump before sophomore Felix Obi was unable to finish his event. Obi, last year’s triple-jump national champion, was leading the competition before it was stopped with 15.64-meter jump.

Baylor track will add Baylor football players KD Cannon and Chris Platt to their roster for the remainder of the season. Cannon and Platt each won state titles in track in high school.

“We’re just so grateful to Coach [Art] Briles and Kendal and everyone who made the decision to let these guys be out here,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “We’re definitely happy to have them.”

Cannon won the Texas Class 4A state title in the 100-meter dash last year. Platt won the 400-meter state title three times. Harbour’s intention is to build Cannon and Platt up to speed order to have them ready for the NCAA championships.

“It’s a different kind of running [than football],” Harbour said. “It’s a little longer, more sustained, rather than the shorter 30- to 40-yard bursts you might go in football. It takes some time to make that transition and get your legs adjusted. The key word with these guys is patience. We want to be patient, because once they make the adjustment they could be awesome.”

The window is open for Cannon to compete in the 100-meter as well as the 4×100-meter relay event. Platt expects to compete in the 400-meter and 4×400-meter event.

Harbour said that the decision to race Cannon and Platt will eventually come down to director of track & field Clyde Hart and associate coach Michael Ford.

“If they say they’re ready, then we’ll cut them loose. I trust those guys. They know what they’re talking about.”

Sophomore sprinter Trayvon Bromell was named Big 12 Male Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the third time in his career on Wednesday.

Bromell previously won the award March 26, 2014, and April 2, 2014, and is now the only player in program history to have won the award three times.

Bromell’s victory in the 100-meter dash at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays marked him as the fourth runner to repeat as champion in the 40-year history of the event. Bromell posted a time .12 seconds faster than any other runner in the NCAA in 2015.

Bromell will compete in the 200-meter and 4×100-meter in the inaugural Baylor Invitational to be held Friday at the brand-new Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium.

Baylor track and field followed up its successful Big 12 indoor championships with another strong showing at the NCAA Indoor Championships Fayetteville, Ark., last week, bringing home an individual national champion and a record-breaking finish from the women’s team.

“Overall, it was just incredible. It was an amazing week,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “Everybody contributed, everybody we brought up here. We had five school records at the meet. That’s unheard of. You don’t see that at national meets.”

Sophomore sprinter Trayvon Bromell claimed the 200-meter national title, marking his second year in-a-row winning a national championship (2014, 100-meter). Bromell ran an all-time school-record and 2015 world-leading time (20.29 seconds) in the 200-meter semifinals on Friday.

He then surpassed his semifinal time to finish the 200-meter in a historic 20.19 seconds in the finals on Saturday. His performance ranks at No. 5 on the all-time list of the 200-meter and best time in the world in 2015. Bromell’s time ties Wallace Spearmon for the second fastest American and collegiate performances of all time.

“Honestly, this indoor 200 title is way bigger than that 100 title, because everybody knows I love the 100,” Bromell said. “I knew I could run [the 200-meter event], and I’m not going to say I doubted myself, but I just felt like my short sprints would be better than my 200.”

The 2015 200-meter indoor title was Baylor’s fourth time claiming the honor.

Baylor’s distance medley relay team, consisting of Kelly, Williams, Montoya and senior runner Raena Rhone, finished fourth. Rhodes finished eighth in the pole vault event. Richardson posted a season-best triple jump to finish fifth overall. Williams also finished third in the 800-meter run. Johnson finished sixth in the 3,000-meter run and second in the 5,000-meter.

“She did a great job coming back in the 3K. And I want to say that’s probably the fastest 9:02 for sixth place. A lot of years, 9:02 will win it,” Harbour said. It was just an absolutely loaded 3K field, and they just rolled.”

Baylor track & field ended the 2015 Big 12 Indoor Championships with a school-record, six event champions. The women’s team finished third overall and the men finished seventh overall at the Lied Recreation Center on Saturday.

On the men’s side, junior Felix Obi won his third-straight Big 12 title in triple-jump. Sophomore Trayvon Bromell won the 200-meter. Baylor’s 4×400 relay team, junior Brandon Moore, freshman Kevin Harris and Sophomore George Caddick won the Big 12 title in its respective event.

“We always compete to win a championship and especially on the women’s side we wanted to go after that,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “We just weren’t quite good enough. We didn’t have a bad meet. Overall it was one of our best Big 12 indoor meets ever with the number of event championships won and the number of outstanding performances.”

Baseball

Cal-State Fullerton swept the No. 25 Bearsin Fullerton, Calif. over the weekend, dropping the first game by a score of 10-1 on Friday. Game two, which also took place on Friday as part of a double-header, ended 11-6. The Bears let up 16 hits to the Titans in the second game.

Baylor led 6-3 going into the sixth inning, but Cal-State Fullerton answered with two runs on three hits and two errors. The Titans’ three-run triple in the eighth inning proved too much for the Bears to overcome.

Just like in game two, the Bears led 6-3 entering in the fifth inning of the series finale, but late game heroics from the Titans secured the sweep for Cal-State Fullerton. Game three finished 7-6.

Equestrian

The No. 1 Bears’ undefeated run came to a close with losses to Oklahoma State and Kansas State on Friday and Saturday. The No. 8 Cowgirls dealt the Bears their first loss of the season on Friday by a score of 11-6. No. 10 Kansas State edged Baylor 10-9 on Saturday.

Despite the two losses, Baylor finished the league with a 4-2 record, securing the top spot in the conference for the season.

The 2015 Big 12 Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships begins today and conclude on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University’s Lied Recreation Center. The Bears return 21 All-Big 12 Performers, including four who have previously won Big 12 indoor titles.

The men’s team ranks No. 18 nationally while the women rank No. 8 in the country overall. Baylor has 11 men and 18 women among the top 10 Big 12 competitors in their respective events.

“We have to get after it and compete at a really high level,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to have a good meet. On the women’s side we are within striking distance. Texas is No. 4, Kansas State is No. 6 and we are No. 8 nationally. On the men’s side, the events that we are usually strong in, we are strong in again.”

WOMEN

Junior Olicia Williams boasts the best 800-meter time at 2:03.21. Senior Mariah Kelly holds the top time in the mile (4:38.00). Senior Rachel Johnson hold the best time in the 3,000-meter run (9:07.09) and the 5,000-meter run (15:40.45) in the conference. Junior Brianna Richardson is the top triple-jumper (42-11.5). Baylor will send seven players to the NCAA indoor championships.

MEN

Sophomore sprinter Trayvon Bromell, defending national-champion in the 100-meter dash, owns the league’s best time in the 200-meter (20.69) and ranks second in the Big 12’s 60-meter sprint (6.54). Bromell is the lone male from Baylor who will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Junior Felix Obi currently ranks No. 2 in the Big 12 for triple jump, but looks to claim his third straight Big 12 title in the same event.

Led by Johnson, Kelly and Montoya, Baylor women’s cross country had a strong showing at the Big 12 Championships this weekend.

In her third consecutive season earning All-Big 12 recognition, Johnson ran a career-best time of 20:15.1 on the 6,000-meter course on Saturday, finishing third overall. Montoya was right behind Johnson (20:32.3), coming in seventh. Kelly finished 14th (20:55.2).

Iowa State took the crown for the fourth-straight year. Baylor’s five runners totaled a team score of 70, just behind the second-place West Virginia (58).

“All our girls ran big,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “I was very pleased. Rachel was a little bit off. We were 12 points behind a really good West Virginia team. It is not an easy course. It has some hills and it was very cold up.”

Men’s

Across the board, the Bears were neck-and-neck with each other in the final results on Saturday. Junior Kyle Scanlan led the Bears with a time of 25:28.9. Freshman Eric Anderson was just one spot back (25:32.1) for 42nd place.

Senior Matt Galvin (25:38.1) and senior Derwin Graham (25:42.1) also finished just one spot apart in 46th and 47th respectively. Sophomore Jordan West was the final scoring runner of the Bears with a time of 25:54.1 to be 54th.

Totalling 191 points, the Bears earned their highest cross country team finish (sixth) since 2003. Oklahoma State won their eighth consecutive Big 12 title on Saturday. After the University of Colorado’s departure from the Big 12 years ago, OSU has dominated in men’s cross country, winning every single men’s Big 12 title since 2008.

“I was happy with way our guys raced,” assistant coach Jon Capron said. “They were all very competitive. Kyle has run really well for us the last couple of races and it was great to see him and Eric up there, but I was most pleased with the rest of my crew being right there behind them. Getting those guys to pack up like they did will pay big dividends down the road.”

Baylor cross country travels to Lawrence, Kan. to compete in the 2014 Big 12 Cross Country Championship on Saturday. While Baylor freshman are running the line for a few yards, the Bears’ cross country team will be running much longer distance with two Big 12 (men’s and women’s) title on the line.

“It’s easier in these kind of meets to know exactly who your competition is, compared to when you’re running against 300 people,” Harbour said.

“We’ll have about 80. So, it’s going to be a lot more to know exactly where the other runners are at. It’s just a totally different type of race than what they’ve been in the last two times.” The best overall team wins the Big 12 Championship title while the 30 best runners, (15 from the men’s race and 15 from the women’s race) are named to the all-conference team. The Oklahoma State men and the Iowa State women won the conference title in 2013. The OSU men have won six Big 12 Conference Championship titles in-a-row and the ISU women have won three-straight Big 12 titles.

Women’s

“We’ve got a really strong team,” Harbour said. “We’re the fourth ranked team in our conference right now. Iowa State and West Virginia are both top 10, Oklahoma State is in the 20s. We’re right behind them, so, we’ve got a shot, but we’re going to have to run really, really well.”

The Cyclones have a three-year streak in conference titles. The Bears have placed second three times in the conference championship, but have never won the title. Harbour sees the tournament this weekend as an opportunity to finally claim the Big 12 crown.

“We’ve got to match up, know who their number one, know who their number two is and we’ve got to go get them. We’ve second three times, but we’ve never been able to pull it off. So, here we are in striking distance again.”
One the Baylor’s star runners from the women’s side is senior Rachel Johnson. Johnson, like many of the cross country runners is part of the track team. Johnson had a very successful end to her track season during the summer. She looks to carry over her success in track to the cross country conference championship on Saturday.

Johnson and Harbour met before the season and agreed to have her race much less in the early part of the cross country season to rest and recover for the bigger cross country meets throughout the season. She said it was difficult sometimes to see her team line up for meets without her, but is thankful for the time off now.

“In my freshman year and sophomore year, I was always racing every single race,” Johnson said. “So, it’s really nice this year to race on fresher legs and bigger races.”

Men’s

Like the women’s team with Iowa State, the men know who they’re targeting and what their goal is. That is to beat Oklahoma State and eventually make it to the national championship meet.

“The goal that we’ve had all season is to make it to nationals, and [the Big 12 Cross Country Championship] is our big, big test to prove that we have what it takes to make it, at regionals,” senior Jonathan Tijerina said.

For most of the season, the men’s team has been led by freshman Eric Anderson. The senior runners usually follow Anderson’s lead. Overall, it pushes the runners, regardless of age or classification, to be the best they can be, he said.

“It’s great motivation,” Tijerina said. “Freshman traditionally come in, run well and then sort of fizzle out towards the end of the season. Eric has held up really, really well. I think that this is a chance for us to again have great races and show what we can do.”

The Lady Bears scored 38 points to win the 2014 HyVee Cup at the Drake Relays on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

“We thought we would have a shot to win the trophy coming in and they did it in a really convincing way,” head coach Todd Harbour said. “It was really neat to be able to see them enjoy that title. The 4×4 group did a great job closing out the night. The girls just stepped up in a big way and ran a great time. It was a really good weekend.”

The HyVee Cup goes to the team with the best combined finishes in five relay events, the 4×100, 4×400, 4×800, distance medley and sprint medley.

The women’s sprint medley relay team of Kehri Jones, Justise Dayries, Raena Rhone and Olicia Williams was clocked at 3:49.19 to take third place.

The distance medley relay team of Maggie Montoya, Michelle Nwachukwu, Mariah Kelly and Rachel Johnson recorded a time of 11:12.37 to come in second. This was the second-fastest time in school history.

Jones, Ashley Fields, Alyssa Nichols and Dayries took third in the 4×100-meter relay with a season best time of 44.59.

The 4×400-meter relay team of Nichols, Fields, Williams and Rhone tallied a season-best mark of 3:31.89 for an event win.

The men’s squad finished in fifth in the HyVee Cup ranking with 15 points.

In the men’s 4×100-meter, the quartet of Alex Reece, Blake Heriot, Everett Walker and Trayvon Bromell won the event with a time of 39.14.

“It’s like, we all got the same mindset,” said Bromell. “You know, we work hard and we just come together as a team, and we just got that mentality that we are hungry and we want to eat something. We came out with a clear mind and executed it. Basically, that’s what we do, and we stay together as a team and go to war together.”

Isaiah Duke, TJ Holmes, Brandon Moore and Heriot produced a season-best time in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:05.20. The men’s 4×400-meter team finished in fourth.

“The men’s 4×4 team ran an outstanding time on the end,” said Coach Harbour. “It was a good weekend where we are taking positive steps forward. We have some guys injured that we would like to have back and we would have liked to have won it, but those guys did a super job.”

Bromell also competed in the 100 meters and won the event title. He finished with a time of 10.19 and tied for the 10th fastest time in school history. Fellow teammate, Everett Walker also competed in the event. Everett finished fifth with a time of 10.38.

Junior Derwin Graham finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:59.93. Graham recorded the second fastest time in school history.

Sophomore Bryce Grace placed fifth in the 110 hurdles. Grace recorded a time of 13.96, the season-best wind legal time. Tiffani McReynolds finished third in the women’s 100 hurdles. McReynolds tallied a mark of 13.34.

The Bears will travel back to Austin to compete in the Longhorn Invitational on May 3.